The famous
Black Pearl of
Tahiti are part of the magic of the Polynesian seas. They are the product
of a complicated partnership between humans and oysters, spawned in the
beautiful lagoons of the distant atolls of Tuamotu.

The Tuamotu Archipelago is strewn across the empty sea
by the string of bright
Tahitian Pearl. They are atolls, coral crowns on the rims of
ancient volcanoes outlined in breaking surf. They are made up of two mountainous
islands and seventy-six atolls. Each atoll traps and holds a piece of ocean, a
lagoon that acts like a giant soup tureen for plankton. The lagoons also protect
and nourish the black-lipped pearl oyster.

At the turn of the century, the pearl fisheries of
Polynesia harvested oysters for the iridescent inner shell used to make buttons.
Today, almost every pearl on the world market is cultured, grown by man.

A Tuamotu atoll

The pearl farmers of Tahiti use plastic garlands
suspended in the lagoon to provide an anchorage for the drifting pinhead-size
larvae. In a few months, each garland is choked with little oysters, and at six
months, the oysters are placed in hanging baskets (below), where they grow for
another year and a half. The oysters are then removed and wedged open, one by
one. With surgical precision, a slip is made with a scalpel near the oyster's
gonad, and a snippet of mantle tissue followed by a bead carved from the shell
of an American fresh water mussel. After surgery, the oysters are returned to
the lagoon and will be ready to harvest in three years.

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